_SONOMA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION



SONOMA COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION

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SCOE BIZ

Business Services

Bulletin No. 15-08 November 2014

November 21, 2014

To: District/Charter Business Services

From: Judy Thomson, Director Fiscal Services

Professional Development Reminders

Creditable Compensation Regulations Webinar ~ December 4, 2014

We encourage all payroll technicians and CBOs involved in determining employee's STRS creditable compensation to attend this webinar.  The webinar will address the changes that take effect January 1, 2015.   Please see the November 17, 2014 e-mail from Erin Graves for a link to sign up.

LCAP Workshop ~ December 5, 2014

CBOs should attend this workshop with their LEA LCAP team.

Please sign up at:

State of the State

Year-to-date, General Fund revenues are up $1.033 billion, or 3.7% as compared to the forecast. Overall corporation tax revenues are up $699 million (60.4%) year-to-date. Unlike personal income tax, which is up 5.3% for the year at this point, year-to-date sales tax revenues are down 6.6%, or $528 million.

The 20th annual edition of the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s (LAO) The 2015-16 Budget: California’s Fiscal Outlook was released on November 19, 2014. The following are some highlights:

o For 2014-15, the minimum guarantee is up $2.3 billion from the 2014-15 State Budget Act level. As a result of stronger state revenues and a provision in the 2014-15 State Budget Act that calls for repayment of apportionment deferrals if actual revenues exceed the forecast, the LAO predicts that all of the $992 million in remaining K-14 apportionment deferrals will be terminated by the end of the fiscal year. After paying off the remaining deferrals, the LAO estimates that $1.5 billion will still be available for other one-time purposes.

o For 2015-16, the LAO forecasts a 4.1% increase in the guarantee, which provides $2.6 billion in new ongoing funding. This increase, however, is financed wholly from an increase in the local property tax rather than from the state General Fund.

o The LAO does not anticipate the state will make a deposit into the newly created Proposition 98 reserve (officially titled the Public School System Stabilization Account) approved by state voters under Proposition 2 on November 4th.  Therefore, the cap on school district reserves would not be operative at any time through this decade.

Non-Voter Approved Debt disclosure form and requirements … a Reminder

Education Code Section 17150 requires school districts to notify the County Superintendent of Schools and County Auditor at least 30 days prior to the governing boards’ approval of the issuance of certificates of participation (COPs) or other non-voter-approved debt secured by real property such as: Lease purchases (LP) secured by real property; Qualified Zone Academy Bonds (QZABs) secured by real property; Revenue bonds; Energy Loans or Bond Anticipation Notes (BANs). The law requires the district provide repayment schedules, evidence of the ability to repay, and costs of issuance as well as information necessary to assess the anticipated effect of the debt issuance. Within 15 days of the receipt of the information, the County Superintendent of Schools and the County Auditor are authorized to comment publicly regarding the district’s capacity to repay the debt obligation, based on the information provided.

General Obligation (GO) Bonds and Proposition 39 (55% Local Vote Bonds)

Traditional GO Bonds require 2/3 vote of the registered voters voting in the election. Under Proposition 39, which was enacted in November 2000, schools can authorize GO Bonds with 55% voter approval. Proposition 39 bond issuances include additional accountability requirements such as, including certain types of audits, provisions for conducting elections, and establishing a Citizens Oversight Committee. Some requirements are listed below:

o Following a bond election, the County Registrar of Voters will provide the school district calling the election with the formal results in the form of a Certificate of Election Results. The governing board of the school district is to enter the results of such election into its minutes and to certify such proceedings to the County Superintendent of Schools, usually done in the form of a resolution. This action is normally taken at the next regular meeting of the governing board of the school district after the certification is received. This action must occur before the issuance and sale of the authorized bonds.

o Ed Code Section 15278(a) requires that bond measures passed pursuant to Proposition 39 establish a Citizens Oversight Committee (Committee). The initial members of the Committee must be established within 60 days after the date that the governing board of the school district enters the results of the bond election on its minutes. The governing board of the school district may also adopt policies, guidelines and procedures to be applicable to the Committee once it is established. It is recommended that policies, guidelines and procedures be adopted before members of the Committee are selected. The Committee shall consist of at least seven (7) members to serve for a term of two (2) years, without compensation, and for no more than two (2) consecutive terms. The Committee may not include any employer or official of the school district or any vendor, contract, or consultant of the school district and must include certain member types from the community.

o Ed Code Section 15278 (b) requires certain documents relating to the Committee be made available on an internet website maintained by the school district.

It is recommended that districts that have recently passed GO Bonds discuss regulatory requirements with their bond or legal counsel. The California Debt Advisory Investment Committee (CDIAC) website ( ) and California’s Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) website ( ) provide more detail information.

Transparency Requirements for Local Bonds

Two recently passed bills, Assembly Bill (AB) 2274 and AB 2551, add transparency requirements to local bonds that become effective on January 1, 2015.

AB 2274 adds reporting requirements to debt from bonds already approved by voters. It requires agencies to notify CDIAC of any proposed debt issuance, which would include refinancing and other secondary issuances. Prior to AB 2274, LEAs were only required to notify CDIAC of any new debt issuance. CDIAC can now require any information about the debt issuance “it considers appropriate” as part of the notification rather than limiting it to the sale date, the name of the issuer, the type of debt, and the estimated principal. In addition, the bill reduces the timeframe in which agencies shall notify CDIAC of a final debt sale from 45 days to 21 days after the sale or issuance. The aforementioned CDIAC reporting requirements are applicable to any issuance of debt after January 1, 2015.

AB 2551 enhances transparency requirements for local bond elections, including Proposition 39 (2000) and two-thirds vote general obligation bonds. The bill requires LEAs attempting to pass local bonds to submit to their local elections office the total estimated debt service, including principal and interest, if all bonds are issued, as part of the Tax Rate Statement required pursuant to Elections Code Sections 9400-9401. The aforementioned reporting requirements are applicable to any issuance of debt after January 1, 2015

Audit extensions

SCOE Biz Bulletin 15-07 was e-mailed to all business managers on November 18, 2014. The Bulletin discussed the submission and review process for June 30, 2014 audit reports. Audit reports for the year ended June 30, 2014 must be filed with SCO, CDE and SCOE by December 15, 2014. If your district cannot meet this filing deadline, a written request for an audit report filing extension is due to SCOE before November 26, 2014. Charters requesting an extension must contact their sponsoring district.

Final Regulations for LCAP and LCFF Spending

The State Board of Education (SBE) approved the final regulations for the Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) and Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) spending requirements on November 14, 2014. The final regulations will be sent to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) for approval. Once the regulations are approved by the OAL, the final regulations will become effective and take the place of the current emergency regulations. More information will be provided at the December 5, 2014 LCAP Workshop.

CalPERS Circular October 22, 2014 – GASB 68 ~ see attached

Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) 68 Pension Accounting and Financial Reporting Standards is effective beginning 2014-15. With the implementation of GASB 68, employers will be required to recognize a liability as employees earn their pensions (STRS and PERS). For the first time, employers will recognize their net pension liability, deferred inflows / deferred outflows of resources, and pension expense in their government-wide financial statements (not the governmental fund statements). Not-for-profit charter schools that use the full-accrual basis of accounting may need to report these amounts in their fund statement.

It is recommended each LEA begin having a conversation with their auditors regarding GASB 68. In addition, CalPERS requests each employer respond by December 1, 2014 with the following information via e-mail to CalPERS_GASB_68@calpers. :

o Prior year end close dates

o Respond with the likelihood of requesting CalPERS to provide GASB 68 reporting information.

CalSTRS issued an Employer Information Circular in April that describes how CalSTRS will assist LEAs with GASB 68 implementation. See attached.

CalPERS expects to be ready to provide the information needed by LEAs in the spring of 2015. The information will be provided on a fee for service basis with the fee expected to be set in early 2015.

LCFF Calculator - Updates

The following are updates regarding the FCMAT LCFF Calculator:

o LCFF Calculator V.15.3b is now out on the FCMAT website. This version includes minor changes from version V.15.3a .

o Tab: District Class Size ~ The entry for 2013-14 Average Class Size at each school site should be "0" (zero).

Reminder: Records Retention Policy

The records retention requirements are explained in the Title V, California Code of Regulations 16023 - 16028. 

A copy should be one that cannot be changed and represents a picture in time. Electronic information can be scanned or kept in pdf form.  Reports in dat file format do not necessarily meet the standards as software might become obsolete in future years and thus the ability to retrieve the information could be lost. 

Please note that SCOE considers the information submitted by districts and charters (such as interim/adopted budget reports/etc.) as LEA records and that LEAs are responsible for retaining those records. 

Dates to Remember:

11/27/2014 Holiday

11/28/2014 Holiday

12/15/2014 First Interim Reports due to SCOE

12/15/2014 W2 Workshop

12/17/2014 1099 Workshop

12/24/2014 Holiday

12/25/2014 Holiday

12/31/2014 Holiday

01/01/2015 Holiday

01/05/2015 P-1 Attendance due to SCOE

NOTE:

Documents that are presented at DBUG may be found at dp. website under the "DBUG/SCOE Bulletins" tab.[pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic][pic]

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